Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell Allegedly Seeking Sentence Commutation, Insider Alleges to House Democrats
According to new allegations from a whistleblower, Ghislaine Maxwell, currently serving a 20-year prison term for trafficking offenses, is reportedly preparing a commutation application for consideration by the presidential administration.
Preferential Handling Claimed at Federal Prison
Congressional Democrats on the House judiciary committee revealed that a whistleblower provided evidence indicating Maxwell is preparing the clemency petition. Additionally, they mentioned she has been receiving special treatment at the minimum-security facility in Texas.
Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House judiciary committee, declared in a official statement that the prison’s warden was assisting the convict with copying, printing, and sending documents to support her bid for clemency.
The exact content of the clemency request remain unknown, Raskin added.
Alleged Privileges and Custom Arrangements
The representative claims that, according to the whistleblower, the prisoner has been receiving “customized” meals that are hand-delivered to her cell, and the warden has individually organized private meetings for her and her visitors.
These meetings reportedly involve a designated private space for attendees and a variety of food and drinks for her guests.
Maxwell’s visitors were also reportedly permitted to bring computers, which the congressman characterized as an “unprecedented action” given the potential danger and potential for unsupervised contact.
Reportedly on one occasion, when phone lines went down for other prisoners, she was given specific instructions about instructing her associates to contact and how staff would relay the call to her.
Supervisor Acting as Assistant
The source also allegedly told House Democrats that when Maxwell wanted to review and edit documents “quickly”, she “essentially used” the official as her “personal secretary and administrative assistant”.
The statement indicates that those writing to her would send files directly to the warden, who would provide them to Maxwell, for her to examine and change and provide them back to the warden to scan and provide to the original sender.
Extra Benefits Alleged
Other privileges reportedly provided to Maxwell include time to “play with” a service dog puppy – a benefit not “ordinarily allowed” – as well as private after-hours access to the facility's gym.
Her legal counsel has not yet replied to a inquiry regarding the insider's allegations.
In a statement, the White House said that it “does not comment” on possible pardon appeals.
“Per the President's remarks, pardoning the convict is not something he has thought about,” the representative noted.
Recent Background
Over the weekend, it was reported that she told close associates in emails from prison that she was “much happier” at the Texas facility than her former location.
In August, she was moved from a secure facility in Tallahassee, Florida to the less restrictive prison in the state, where most detainees are serving time for non-violent offenses and white-collar crimes.
This move, which authorities called as exceptional, occurred just days after she was interviewed about the Epstein case by the senior justice official, the official, who also once acted as the President's personal lawyer.
This questioning came as the administration was facing mounting pressure to release more documents related to the Epstein investigation and amid widespread conjecture around the President's own personal ties to the fallen billionaire and adjudicated criminal, who was found dead in a New York jail in 2019 while facing trial on sex-trafficking charges.
Lawmaker Reactions
Through the statement, Raskin also announced that he had sent a letter to the President, requesting explanations about the insider's claims, and called on the chief executive to reject Maxwell’s commutation request.
“It would be inappropriate to approve any form of clemency to this convicted and unrepentant sex offender,” Raskin wrote in the document. “Your Administration should not be providing her with room service, with canine interaction, with federal law enforcement officials attending to her requests, or with any preferential handling or facility benefit at all.”
Raskin requested that Blanche appear for a public congressional hearing to discuss the revelations and also posed three questions to the President.
Raskin asked whether he had discussed a potential commutation for the convict with the official or others, whether he had directed him or anyone else to arrange her with the move or special conditions in prison, and whether Maxwell, her attorneys, relatives or representatives have made any promises to the President or his attorneys.
Raskin has asked for a response to the questions by the specified date.
In October, the US supreme court rejected an appeal from Maxwell on her trafficking verdict.